Investigation Reveals Resigned Edgewater Sgt. & Officer Sent Racist Texts

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Edgewater, FL - The Edgewater Police Department has released findings from an internal affairs investigation regarding the circumstances of two officers' resignations.

According to the report, former Sergeant Matthew Snyder and former Officer William Wetherell sent text messages and memes of derogatory and racist nature in a group chat with fellow officers. The report states that the remarks were derogatory against African-Americans.

On October 11, Officer Charles Geiger notified Captain Joe Mahoney of the texts by providing screenshots of the conversation that took place on September 12. Captain Mahoney then spoke to officer Kevin Nugent who also had screenshots of the same texts from September 12.

Chief David Arcieri was immediately notified of the situation and Captain Mahoney pulled Wetherell, who was on-duty at the time, into the Chief's office. Upon confronting Wetherell about the allegations, Wetherell asked to resign and speak to his wife.

During a conversation with his wife, Wetherell stated that he was losing his job after he sent texts with racist language. Wetherell admitted to Chief Arcieri that he sent the texts and that they were a "lapse in judgment."

Captain Mahoney then requested to speak with Snyder, who was off-duty at the time, at the police station. Snyder also admitted to sending the texts. He said that "he was not a racist" and that the texts "were meant as a joke." Snyder also asked to resign.

Both Snyder and Wetherell were found guilty of violating "Professional Conduct" policy for their use of derogatory ethnic remarks.

Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.

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